Psalm 39; Isaiah 9

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Psalm 39

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.

I said, I will wguard my ways,

that I xmay not sin with my tongue;

I will yguard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.

I was zmute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

My aheart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

O Lord, bmake me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

Surely a man egoes about as a shadow!

Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;

man fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

gMy hope is in you.

Deliver me from all my transgressions.

hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!

iI am mute; I do not open my mouth,

jfor it is you who have done it.

10  kRemove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

11  When you discipline a man

with lrebukes for sin,

you mconsume like a nmoth what is dear to him;

osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

12  pHear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am qa sojourner with you,

qa guest, like all my fathers.

13  rLook away from me, that I may smile again,

sbefore I depart and tam no more!


Isaiah 9

For to Us a Child Is Born

1 But there will be no ggloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he hbrought into contempt the land of iZebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he jhas made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.2

3 iThe people kwho walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of ldeep darkness,

on them has light shone.

mYou have multiplied the nation;

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with njoy at the harvest,

as they oare glad pwhen they divide the spoil.

qFor the yoke of his burden,

rand the staff for his shoulder,

the rod of his oppressor,

you have broken as son the day of Midian.

tFor every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult

and every garment rolled in blood

will be burned as fuel for the fire.

uFor to us a child is born,

to us va son is given;

wand the government shall be xupon4 his shoulder,

and his name shall be called5

Wonderful yCounselor, zMighty God,

aEverlasting bFather, Prince of cPeace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

dthere will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

ewith justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

fThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,

and it will fall on Israel;

and all the people will know,

gEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:

10  The bricks have fallen,

but we will build with dressed stones;

the sycamores have been cut down,

but we will put cedars in their place.

11  But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,

and stirs up his enemies.

12  hThe Syrians on the east and ithe Philistines on the west

devour Israel with open mouth.

jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

13  The people kdid not turn to him who struck them,

nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.

14  So the Lord cut off from Israel lhead and tail,

palm branch and reed in one day

15  mthe elder and honored man is the head,

and nthe prophet who teaches lies is the tail;

16  for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,

and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

17  Therefore the Lord does not orejoice over their young men,

and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;

for everyone is pgodless and an evildoer,

and every mouth speaks qfolly.6

jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

18  For wickedness burns like ra fire;

it consumes briers and thorns;

it kindles the thickets of the forest,

and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19  Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts

the land is scorched,

and sthe people are like fuel for the fire;

tno one spares another.

20  uThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,

and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;

veach devours the flesh of his own arm,

21  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;

together they are wagainst Judah.

xFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.